Judge whittles down charging document Smith case

LOS ANGELES 
The judge in the Anna Nicole Smith case has begun whittling away sections of the lengthy charging document in a drug conspiracy case against the model's two doctors and boyfriend.

Superior Court Judge Robert Perry on Tuesday threw out 18 overt acts which had been listed by prosecutors in one conspiracy count against the defendants.

Perry has yet to rule on whether prosecutors have proved any of the conspiracy charges.

The judge also refused a prosecution bid to add the late Playboy model as an uncharged co-conspirator in the alleged plan to provide her with excessive prescription drugs.

Doctors Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich and Smith's lawyer-boyfriend Howard K. Stern have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to give her excessive prescription drugs while knowing she was an addict.